The goal of a commercial cotton breeding program is to develop new, unique and superior cotton varieties. In cotton, important traits include higher fiber (lint) yield, earlier maturity, improved fiber quality, resistance to diseases and insects, tolerance to drought and heat, and improved agronomic traits. The breeder initially selects and crosses two or more parental lines, followed by generation advancement and selection, thus producing many new genetic combinations. The breeder can theoretically generate billions of different genetic combinations via this procedure.